Robert Yapell's 1970 Coronet R/T

They all mean the same thing, but in the case of this particular 70 R/T, the meaning couldnt be more significant. This one is the Pilotthe first 70 Coronet built. Though not correct in every pain-staking detail, for a car this significant, it doesnt need to be.

Knowing that it exists, and being able to see it, is enough. Knowing that it is as original as it is, meaning that everything it rolled out of Chryslers doors with is still intact, is a really nice bonus. That includes the numbers-matching driveline. This isnt some rare Fender Tag somebody restored a car around.

For most Mopars the basic history for restoration is not too difficult to track down. However, for a Pilot Car, a whole different set of rules is needed. A lot of the cars construction history comes by way of inductive reasoning. For instance, it is believed that the car was assembled in St. Louis in early 1969. The coding on the fender tag verifies the early construction date, April 1969, but production location is an educated guess based on the fact that only the St. Louis plant did not add separate Fender Tags to call out Pilot or Executive Order cars, as the other Chrysler plants did. In addition, there are no Broadcast Sheets for the car, but that would make sense because the car would have been built virtually by hand by a small team of assemblers. This also explains the lack of inspection marks, or any evidence of them ever existing.

It has been well documented that early- and late-production vehicles often had wrong year holdover parts installed during their construction. This car is no different. While the dash cover was the same for the 69-70 model years, the door panels and instrument cluster were distinct, yet this car has the 69 pieces installed.

Interestingly, the seat covers, which are original, have the 70 patterns on them. Under the hood is perhaps where you will find the most significant crossover parts, in the form of the entire Six Pack induction system. The codes on the carbs and intake manifold indicate 69½ M-car (the lift-off hood Super Bees and Road Runners), which were the first Chryslers to carry the now-legendary Holley set up. Six Packs were first mass produced in 1970, so an earlier set found its way on the R/T. Same for the skid plate on the front K-member and heavy duty frame boxes for the rear spring mountsstarting in 1970, all Six Pack cars had them.

While talking with owner Robert Yapell, it became clear that most of the pieces that had not been sorted out on the models prior to 1970 were installed on this car, hence the Six Pack intake, the hood-mounted turn signal indicators and the one-year-only hood. The car wasnt built for promotional use, it was built as a guinea pig.

The one concession to looks versus engineering troubleshooting comes by way of the paint code, which originally calls for B-5 Blue. Someone realized that if the car was going to be used in factory assembly manuals and parts catalogs, the blue hue wouldnt work, so a switch to white with a black top and interior was ordered. This is confirmed by white overspray located around the window openings inside the quarter-panels, as well as a few other places. Unfortunately, the car was treated to a Red Convertible/Black Top and Interior restoration by a former owner in the early 1980s, when everybody with a convertible wanted it to be red.

This brings us to the ownership history of the car. According to the difference in dates on the Fender Tag and the door sticker, Chrysler had the car for nine months before offering it for sale, at which point an executive got it and drove it around for a while before selling it. When Robert bought the car, he signed on the original title, meaning that the owners in between had never officially registered the car, so the ownership history is by word-of-mouth.

The car was sold in Massachusetts, and then came to Florida for a brief period before going back to the northeast, to Chuck Pierce in New Hampshire. The second owner kept it for a long time and decided on a red repaint when he put it on the street as a daily driver. The car didnt see daily duty for long after fuel economy became a bit unbearable. The car received what Robert calls a good for the time restoration in the early 80s, but hes not happy with it as it sits, especially as far as the restoration hobby has come in the last 10 years. He plans on restoring the car back to its proper appearance in the future. Fortunately, the car is so complete and relatively untouched that he shouldnt have too much trouble. The sheet-metal and floor are all rust- and filler-free, with the only exception being a quarter-panel that looks like it received a bit of attention at one time. The work doesnt appear to have been too extensive, and its quality is good, but Robert has an N.O.S. quarter-panel in his rafters, just in case.

Additionally, the car isnt missing any trim, and as weve mentioned, the console-less interior is all original, with the exception of the original AM/FM being replaced by a more modern unit, and the carpet. The top is the genuine article, and the underhood area hasnt been touched with the exception for the repainted inner fenders, firewall and core support.

Underneath, the factory R/T suspension has been pretty much left alone, including power steering (with fluid cooler), front sway bar, power four wheel drum brakes and 3.54-geared Sure Grip Dana. To date, Robert has detailed the engine bay and given the car a brake job. The factory literature photos indicate the car originally came with hub caps and whitewalls, but Robert may make a change to Rallye wheels strictly for appearance sake. No matter how cool this convertible would look after com-pletion, seeing a set of the hub caps, and imagining them with whitewall tires on a white car, wed have to agree with Roberts planned cosmetic switch!

Robert has quite a stable of rare and unusual Mopars, and over the past couple of years weve shown a sampling of them. His Pilot Car may not be the rarest, most unusual, or even the nicest Coronet weve seen, but it is the first. No matter what you say about all the other cars, there can be only one firstborn.